Onions, sauteed with garlic, dried ground chiles--ancho, guajillo probably some New Mexico as well as California for bulk with less heat. Nuts, toasted and ground--almonds, maybe some walnut. Chicken stock, a bit of chocolate. Thicken with corn tortilla bits or bread crumbs, purree. Seasonings, Salt and pepper of course. Probably some ground coriander, mexican oregano, a bit of cinnamon, but if I used a mexican chocolate, that might have enough for my taste. Adjust sweetness as needed with honey, sugar or agave nectar.

I might go with some achiote and a bit of naranja agria very early in the cooking for color and fruit impact, but with time for the bitterness to cook out some. Just because I like that effect of achiote and naranja. Probably not traditional though. As I think about it more, probably not. Save that for the meat prep.

Meat is usually a roast of some sort, whether fowl or pork.

All that said, traditional mole is often sweeter than I enjoy as a main course. Pipian, a related sauce based more in pumpkin seeds and bread crumbs, I usually like that better as it's less sweet.

Do you want to make your mole poblano all from scratch, or would you like some assistance from one of several varieties of paste?

Either way, it's a bit of work- quite a bit more one way than the other.

My suggestion for someone who's never made a mole poblano before is to start with paste (Dona Maria, San Miguel and La Costena are brands, each a 'lil different, that can be sourced in most countries) -going half and half with water and chicken stock, then adding in various fresh ingredients from recipes on the web to taste.

Some shredded dark choco (or a triangle of ibarra) some unhulled tahini, sauted onion & garlic, dried Mexican chili's (guajillo, anchos, pasillas, mulatos, cascabels will all do) deseeded, blanched finely chopped or processed, nuts (almonds and peanuts are commonly used, often with pepitas i.e. pumpkin seeds) a bit of dry toasted bread. Some people like to toss sultanas (raisins) into the mix, crack a cinnamon stick and/or maybe some allspice. I often add a little honey or brown sugar or palm or coconut sugar along the way, depending on what we've got around, to counteract/complement the bitter

Basically, moles are Mexican curries. When you think of the that way, and recall the basic -and varying tastes that say, one classic style of Indian curry like a Rogan Josh has from one cook to another, you're well on your way to creating fine moles.

ps: if someone says: blaspheny! you say: fusion!

Bottom line is whether the dinner crew after having been served, gives "that look" and makes "those sounds" and cleans the plates.

My suggestion for someone who's never made a mole poblano before is to start with paste (Dona Maria, San Miguel and La Costena are brands, each a 'lil different, that can be sourced in most countries) -going half and half with water and chicken stock, then adding in various fresh ingredients from recipes on the web to taste.
...

Great point. I use paste a lot to make a quick dinner. Another great paste (my favorite, in fact) is Rogelio Bueno.

Both you and @phatch mention sweetening in your concoctions. But, you all set me on a good path that enables me to compare with Mrs. Martinez recipe. To start with, I'm afraid I'm probably leaving the sweetening out, I'll keep it in mind however after tasting.

I'm going to use chili powder since most of the used chilies are simply unavailable over here. In the end, I'm doing that with my homemade euro-chili-con-carne too and it works well. Also, the chilies get ground too in Mrs. Martinez recipe.

How about this proposal for a remake of a Black Mole inspired on Mrs. Martinez recipe;

- to be panfried in oil (I'm not going for lard like Mrs. Martinez); small cinnamon stick, thyme, oregano, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ginger. I'm going to use far less cloves and allspice berries.

- to be panfried in oil (also no lard); breadcrumbs and black raisins

- toast in a dry pan or in very little oil; some chili flakes until quite black, add to a good cup of cold water, soak for 1,5 hour and refresh water during this period. Drain. I may leave this out; smoking chili flakes are like hell to be around!

- roast in the oven (Mrs. Martinez does this on a griddle or skillet in a shorter time, I'm going to do this in my oven for 1 hour or until done); an unpeeled halved onion, some unpeeled cloves of garlic and whole tomatoes. Get everything quite colored. Leave to cool. Peel everything after cooling. Mrs. Martinez uses also tomatillos which are not available here; is there a substitute?

- Combine both mixtures in a bowl. - Heat some oil (instead of lard again), add purée and cook on medium-low for 35-40 minutes. Cover but stir frequently "until the harshness of the chilies is mellowed".

This paste should be thinned before further use by adding chicken stock as necessary. I'm going to add just a bit of grated dark chocolate which taste is according to Mrs. Martinez present in ancho chilies that I'm not using since unavailable.

Peel everything after cooling. Mrs. Martinez uses also tomatillos which are not available here; is there a substitute?

Believe it or not, kiwi fruit (not too ripe and even a bit hard) is an excellent substitute for fresh tomatillos in several Mexican recipes, though if you're going for a chile verde, canned tomitillos will generally do better than either of the two fresh.

With a Mole Poblano, if you're looking for a bit of acid, my suggestion would be some red or heirloom tomato's scortched on a flat grill or in a pan with a touch of oil. Seems to me to add more harmonious flavour.

ps: thumbs up on the Rogelio Bueno. We can't get that one here in Australia, though we did enjoy it from time to time while living on the West Coast in the states.